Armored Core: War For an Answer
by Deadly Iris
Summary: The Ravens declare all out war against the ruthless Alliance. Two pilots will rise above the rest to tip the balance of power in the ongoing war and create a new future. OC and original AC's...Chapter 2 up!
1. Prologue: War is Coming

**A/N: This is my first AC Fan Fic. Tell me what you think!**

**Prologue**

In the presumably distant future, the vast majority of Earth's population is wiped out by a cataclysmic war known as the Great Destruction. The harsh conditions that result force the few remaining survivors to live underground for fifty years. After this long period, the people of Earth rebuild the world and call it Layered. During which, corporations come to power. The three main Corporations are Mirage, Crest Industries, and a relatively more minor one, Kisaragi, all vie for dominance and control over the new land and its assets.

What new assets, you ask?

Armored Cores, or AC for short which is a giant mecha robot, capable of endless customization and power. It takes a skilled pilot to successfully control and master an AC.

A fourth powerful Corporation known as Navis also rose, who became more powerful than the other three. An all-out war ensued, with Crest, Mirage, and Kisaragi realizing that alone they did not have the willpower to defeat Navis, but together, they were unstoppable. In the wake of Navis's defeat, the world has been left in tatters. Looking to consolidate power, the Corporations (Crest, Mirage, and Kisaragi) have merged into one super-corporation known as "The Alliance" swearing to protect Layered through "necessary and proper" means.

But not all agree with this change:

The Ravens.

Ravens - These are the mercenaries affiliated with a underground mercenary network know only as the Raven's Ark. Once one registers as a Raven with the Ark, their private computer network is used to dispatch missions, buy or sell AC parts and the like. This affiliation to the Ark, however, places no restrictions on the Ravens.

Fed up with corporate rule and oppression, and seeing a newfound threat in The Alliance, The Ravens launch all-out attacks against The Alliance.

A certain pilot will tip the balance of the war and power and create a new future…but not struggle and sacrifice. No one know what or who will be lost in the coming events, but one thing is certain:

**War is Coming**


	2. Dumb Luck

**=1=**

Kyrie West always had the same nightmare.

She would be piloting her AC, fighting the Alliance on some mission. Her skills in battle would be flawless, taking down other ACs easily. It wasn't until he showed up: the black and red AC. It was powerful beyond words; destroying everything...every one of her allies with its speed, lasers, thermal beams...and when it got to her. It stared at her as if it would see the terrified little girl in the cockpit. That's when it would grab her AC's torso, and began to crush it. Kyrie couldn't escape as the walls of the cockpit closed it...sparks flying...fire erupting...burning...hotter and hotter...and then…

She would wake up.

She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she found herself in the same place she always had...in her small metal room...in the Raven's Nest. She sighed heavily as she left her bed, walking over to her mirror, her feet barely making a sound as they crossed the cold, metallic floor. She looked at her reflection, past her shoulder length blonde hair, into her amber eyes. The white of her eyes looked something similar to bloodshot. "Heh. You have got to get more sleep Kyrie." she scolded herself, "Guess that's what I get for staying up late, working on Nexus."

Kyrie showered, dressed, and headed to the Nest's cafe. She fed herself bacon, eggs, pancakes, and some sausage on the side before making her way down to the AC hangar. Once there, she made her way to a small lift to walk the platform to her 32 foot AC, Nexus. There, in its docking back it stood in all its navy blue glory.

"Hello beautiful."

**Meanwhile...**

"Oh my God! What the frick is going on?" Zeke screamed. Currently he was being chased through the Wastelands by Alliance patrolman. What for?

"Stealing an AC, they said. Illegal, they said. PFFFT! This scrap heap wasn't even fully functional! Why the heck are they-CRAP ?" he screamed as he dashed the AC to the right avoiding a missile that hit a nearby building.

"Disengage the AC, Now!" came the Alliance patrolmen's voice over the robotic intercom of their ACs.

"How about you stop shooting me first!" Zeke snapped back as he had no intentions of stopping. He had to get to the Raven's Nest.

"Dad, told me if I could get there, I could-huh?" The radar in the AC now had three red blimps on it. The ACs AI announced, "Three unidentified Armored Core Units approaching."

"More Alliance goons?" Zeke asked with dismay in his voice.

"Negative. Ravens."the AI responded.

"Ravens?" Zeke shouted in disbelief. But before he could think a second longer. An AC landed right in front of him, aiming it's gun at him. It shot, but not at him. The bullet went past his AC's head and hit the alliance patrolman that was nearing his position. The bullet took the AC's head unit clean off. Oh yeah, he was using a sniper rifle.

The Ravens didn't even have to waste anymore effort as the other patrolmen retreated knowing they were outnumbered.

"Scout ahead, see if you can find where they set up base. If there were two, there are bound to be more." said one, who appeared to be the leader. His AC was pure white with blue lights.

"Right." said another. This time the voice was female. Her AC was crimson and black. Its upper plates were crimson, which was prominent, and had black underplating. It was equipped an assault rifle in the right hand hand and a laser blade on its left wrist. She boosted away as the White AC turned to him.

"Who are you and where did you get that Armored Core?"

Zeke stood there, dumbfounded and amazed. He had just been saved by the Ravens. The very people he went looking for. Then he realized something. White AC. Large Sniper Rifle. Blue Lights. The crest of the Raven's Ark on the AC's arm. And the decal: #001. It was White Glint, a middleweight, all white NEXT. White Glint was legendary…well more so a legend as anyone who had ever faced him in battle never came back alive to tell the tale.

"You're...the pilot of White Glint? Jack, right?" Zeke asked.

"And you have an AC that's worth more than you know. Now, eject from the cockpit and hand it over, or I'll have to kill you. And I'd rather not, cause you sound like a nice kid..." Jack said pointing his rifle at Zeke.

"Wait! I'm Adam's son!" Zeke cried out as his AC's hands rose over its head unit and Jack's gun slacked off a bit.

"Adam...Aulter?" Jack asked. His speech was slow. He sounded surprised...and cautious.

"Yes! I'm Zeke." Zeke introduced. "He told me to find you and the Raven's Nest!"

"What was his Unit Number?" Jack asked, his voice barely audible, been over the AC's comm. It sounded...hurt?

"What...?" Zeke asked, hardly be able to think right now, in fear that he might die at this very moment.

"His Unit Number! What was it?" Jack demanded, pointing the gun back at Zeke.

"002!"

Jack's gun lowered completely, "Holy..." Jack was silent for a short while. Zeke didn't know whether to be scared or calm. After all, the white AC in front of him was a highly skilled pilot and Zeke…well; Zeke was just running off dumb luck." Follow Me." he said, breaking the silence, and boosting off in the opposite direction.

Zeke followed without hesitation. "Kat, I'm headed back to the Ark. Did you find anything?" Jack asked over his comm.

_Kat must be the crimson AC... _Zeke concluded.

"Negative. Looks like they moved out before I got here. The AC that got away must have radioed in. I hope you didn't let the precious cargo slip away..." the woman had a slight German accent, Zeke noticed or maybe it was just static over his comm.

"I have it right here...following me." Jack said

"What? There's someone piloting it?" Kat asked her voice upset and cold.

"I'll explain later, head back to base." he said.

"For your sake, you better be who you say you are." Jack told Zeke.

**Back at the Nest...**

Kyrie was busy running test on Nexus through her laptop. She hardly heard the Nest's AC engineer sneak up on her. "Hi Sam."

"Dammit! Almost had you! And here I thought today would be the day I finally managed to scare Kyrie West." came the deep, groggy voice of the engineer and the closest person she had to a father.

Sam Fisher was Kyrie's dearest friend and basically a father to her as it was he who had brought her to the Ark after her mother died and she was forced to leave The City. He raised her from age 10 to now, teaching her everything there was to know about Armored Cores and how to pilot one. He often referred to her as his "little girl".

"I guess you were wrong then, hmm?" she asked she stifled a laugh.

He shoved her playfully before leaning on the railing of the platform, "You know, nothing has changed overnight, Kyrie..."

"I know." she said, her attention focused on the laptop. "I just like to make sure in case I get called out..."

"I know you're eager to fight, but we haven't had any activity for the past two weeks...I doubt Jack's found anything now..." Sam chided.

"Where is he anyway?" she asked as it was odd not to see the leader of the Raven's Nest out and about.

"Dunno...guess he went out...Jacob mumbled something about the Wasteland at breakfast..." Sam told her.

"The Wasteland?" Kyrie asked, eyebrow rose suspiciously.

"Hey, don't look at me! I don't know what the heck is going on. I've been in here all morning." Sam said raising his hands, waving them back and forth in front on his face.

"The Wastelands..." Kyrie mumbled to herself. There were Alliance patrols out there. Had Jack found something big? It seemed the question answered itself when the Hangar doors to the Raven's Nest, opened as their commander himself walked his AC, White Glint, in. But he was not alone.

Beside him was an older AC. It looked like a cross between a Third and Fourth Generation model. Military built. Who was it?

It seemed the entire crew of the Nest was intrigued as well, as they stopped working and walked out onto the hangar floor as Jack left White Glint's cockpit. His mysterious companion did the same. Kyrie could barely see him, but he looked young, about her age or at most, one year older. Black, short, spikey hair. More importantly, why did he seem familiar?

Jack and the boy stood in the middle of the floor as the crew looked on.

"So...it really is you...yeah...you look Adam all right...you have his eyes...the eyes of a pilot." Jack said as he turned to his crew, "Everyone, welcome our newest crewmate...uh? What's your name again, kid?"

"Zeke. Zeke Aulter." he said.


End file.
